An Unholy Predicament
by Dramionescute
Summary: There are things magic can hide, and they can apply to things that happen in life away from Hogwarts. One just has to know the right spells while there and viola, a different person is standing there until after you leave. Dramione, AU, Voldemort doesn't exist. Follow these two as they become friends through a something one of them tries to keep secret. Friend pairings: 4 for now.
1. Chapter 1

This fanfic is a Dramione, Au, where Voldemort doesn't exist (for sake of the plot), and Hermione only made friends with Harry due to her dislike and contempt for his red-headed sidekick. A bit of Ron bashing in later chapters, but the rest of the Weasley family are fine. Blinny, Thuna, Hansy, and Longstrode implied.

Not timeline or HPCS, HPPA, HPGF, HPOF, HPHBP, or HPDH compliant. I don't own Harry Potter or anything in the HP universe, that belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 1: A Jaw-Dropping Revelation

The Malfoy family was a prestigious wizarding family and they prided themselves on it. However, when one was at the top, one tended to entertain friends in low places to gain the dirt. The three of them were going to visit one such friend of the family. They hated how he chose muggle places, but he was inconspicuous and he hated being caught at his dirty dealings. It suited his purposes to live in the muggle slums with a few of his informants (also wizards and a witch, as far as they knew he had) and that seemed to be where he would stay. They hated visiting this part of the community, but none of them really had a choice.

"Remember, this part of town is extremely, increasingly, dangerous for people like us. Cissy, Draco, stick close." Lucius Malfoy was the family patriarch and he refused to let anything happen to his family. Especially his son, Draco- who had only just finished his first year in Hogwarts, a prestigious wizarding school just for the gifted as his son was.

"We know, father. This place gives me the creeps anyway. I feel a bit bad for those unfortunate enough to have to live here." His son glanced around as people began to come out and stare at the trio as they walked. One group of tough looking men stood in front of them with arms crossed. There were only about four of them, but they were huge and _jacked_ \- all three of the Malfoys took notice, but none more than young Draco.

I watched as they came in front of us looking like a small group of hungry wolves. Father pushed me and mother behind him.

"Well well well, wha' do we 'ave 'ere?" A gruff voice barked. My blood turned cold at the sense of hostility there.

"Nothing of your concern, bastard. These people are on my territory, so bugger off you wankers!" A familiar voice yelled. My head snapped to the right as whoever was speaking parted the crowd just walking a jaunty strut at a deliberately slow pace. My jaw dropped as goody two shoes Granger swaggered through the crowd.

"We don' 'ave to listen to ye!" One of the men snarled, but you could tell he was nervous. She laughed darkly as she made it to them.

"Really? 'Cause I recall being able to kick your arse multiple times. I'll deal with them, you get back to your own territory. Unless you'd rather have me make you pay for it?" Her tone was icy, threatening, and making me nervous. She seemed to radiate dangerous energy that everyone could feel.

"Come on boys; we won' ge' anythin' 'ere." Said the obvious leader as he lead his men away. She glared at their retreating backs before fixing us with a piercing gaze. She looked so different in this setting than in school.

"Are you trying to get yourselves killed? Coming right through the front entrance of the slums of town! I always thought Malfoys had better self-preservation than that." Granger scowled at my family.

"Hey! No need for quips!" I protested at her. She glared at me and I shut my mouth.

"You all better get yourselves out of here. Or at least out of the streets. You're gonna get jumped." She said with a glare at all around us. They kind of backed off and some of them even refused to stick around outright.

"Jumped?" My mother echoed. She looked at her.

"Yeah. Have you ever read about the revels Voldemort would have in the first war?" She asked, her darkly circled eyes and loads of scars all making the insinuation more sinister. My mother looked like she was going to be sick.

"You seem to have a lot of pull down here." My father commented. She straightened her back and puffed her chest out a bit.

"Yeah, and proud that I do. I had to earn every ounce of fear and respect I get in these parts. Hence the scars. Some fights they bring knives, the bastards. They hate to play by the rules. That's actually where I get most of the respect; I play by the rules most of the time and am a formidable foe to someone with a knife while using my bare hands. Especially when I'm not even twelve yet and taking down bears like the ones you saw regularly." She shrugged. My mother looked mortified.

"And no one does anything about it?" She asked. Granger shrugged again.

"No one really cares and I refuse to tell Ronald Weasley, and Harry has no way to help. It'd be more annoying for him that he can't save his friend than anything else." She replied.

"What, don't like Weaselbee?" I taunted. She gave me a glare that actually scared me a bit more than those men did.

"No. He has the emotional range of a teaspoon and the brains to match. I know what type he'll be and don't want to deal with it." She said finally. I nodded in agreement.

"I think that is officially the first thing we've agreed on ever." I said to her coyly. She rolled her eyes.

"We're looking for Dagger. Do you know him?" My father asked, he'd been unusually silent during the conversation. She looked at him.

"Dagger was killed just yesterday. His people are still alive though. I'll take you to them." She motioned us to follow her and we stuck close. She got us to the front door of the place when a girl of a young age was being accosted by a bunch of tossers on the side of the street. She looked furious.

"I'll be back. Don't stay outside too long." She growled, before making her way down the poorly kempt walk. The way she walked into battle with no fear awed me into watching a little more. She stood up to the bastards while the girl got away to her family. One of the big guys pulled out a knife and I felt my eyes widen as she fought him. She used her small size to her advantage and weaved around him to try and avoid the knife while making him tire, his swings getting slower and slower. He did catch her shoulder blade with the blade and it now bled a crimson red, the same color as my own blood. She was now even more furious if that was possible. She finally managed to kick him in the face hard enough to send him flying backwards and to hit the ground unconscious. She then came back to the steps and we went inside.

"Slick! Grim! Anys! You got some of Dagger's old clients!" Granger shouted. My mind was once again drawn to her blood. It looked no different than my own. I wondered what they meant when they said her blood was dirty. Why were purebloods so superior? Well, they were rich, but there were muggles that were just as if not more rich than purebloods. We were physically inclined, but looking at Granger's previous performance, so were they. We were magic, but so were muggleborns. My life felt like it was turning upside down and all because of Granger. It wasn't right. I shook myself out of my thoughts when three people joined us. The two boys I recognized as Daggers sons, Johnny and Amos. The woman was his wife, Jo-anne.

"Lucius! Cissy! Draco! Nice to see you all! Thank you for ensuring their safe passage through here, Strike." She turned to Granger.

"I told you that you can call me Hermione, Anys." Granger said softly. The woman smiled slightly at her. Then she saw the shoulder that Granger had been trying to hide.

"Oh my! Let me have a look." She reached forward and Granger stepped back.

"You have little med supplies left, Anys. There is no sense in using it on a scratch." Granger said quickly.

"You just don't want to take your sleeves off. You know I don't mind." Jo-anne said gently.

"I know you don't. I just don't need it getting out at school." Granger said, glancing at me. Jo-anne huffed angrily.

"I wish they'd allow magic here. Or that you'd go to someone! You don't deserve to be left in such a condition, especially at a young age like you are." The woman pouted. Granger sighed and rubbed her face tiredly.

"I have been out there since I was four. I don't know what anyone can do for me now." She said, the weariness in her voice making me wonder what she had been through. My mother watched the interaction with beady eyes.

"What are you hiding under your sleeves?" She asked the girl in a tone that brooked no argument.

"That is none of your concern, Mrs. Malfoy." She said, her face impassive and her voice stony. Her mask even impressed me, and I grew up building one to use on a whim. It wasn't flawless by any means, but hers was. She fixed me with an unsettling gaze.

"In this part of the world, having a flawless mask is a necessity. Don't have one and it could very well bring about your end." She said blankly, as though what she said had no earth shattering development in it.

"Merlin's beard! You're a Legilimens!" I exclaimed, immediately putting my shields up. She looked at me and smirked in a way I thought only the Malfoys could do.

"Indeed. Your shields are a little weak, you may want to work on them." She said, examining her nails. Jo-anne took her momentary distraction to get the boys to restrain her and get her sleeves off.

"ANYS!" She shouted in indignation. Jo-anne glared at her as she looked at the cut.

"It's for your own good! And this is not just a scratch! It'll most likely add to the scars you're gaining!" Jo-anne scolded. I then noticed all of the scars all on Granger's person. The sight made me sick, her skin deathly pale from all of the white. My mother gasped in mortification.

"You are not staying here, young lady. You are no longer staying in this _unholy_ predicament that no adult, much less a child, should have to experience." Mother cried out sternly. My father nodded.

"While we may spout all of that pureblooded farce that muggleborns are lower than us, we don't actually believe it. None of us do. The world expects it, however, so we give it." He said to her. She actually smiled.

"That means I was right again. Pay up, Slick!" She laughed. He grumbled and pulled a bunch of pounds from his pocket.

"She got you, again! You'd think that some sort of lesson would've pounded itself into your head by now, but nope!" Amos laughed at him. Johnny flipped him off and let go of Granger. Amos did too and they both gave me a high five before flanking the hallway door as they had upon entering. My mother went over with Jo-anne.

"Oh my! And your skin looks as though it would be lovely too." Mother fussed over Granger and the girl looked like she'd rather get hit with another knife than be where she was at that moment. I turned to my father.

"When were you going to tell me?" I asked him, referring to the whole 'purebloods are better thing is shite'. He looked at me.

"We wanted you to have your own opinions, son. If you truly wanted to believe in that stuff, we'd let you choose your own path. If you wanted to be like us, we wouldn't care if you married a muggle as long as you were happy." He shrugged. I nodded, a little offended that he had me believing in something he himself didn't.

"Wow. What I would give to be in your place right now." Granger said glumly. The entire room looked at her. The Calvins looked on in sympathy and the Malfoys looked on confusion.

"What?" I asked. She looked at me and the sadness and pain in her eyes threw me for a loop.

"What I would give to have a family who loves me unconditionally, who are open to my choices so long as I am happy, who don't abandon those that are different. What I would give for parents that didn't love me for a price, who didn't care I was different." She looked at the ground as her voice wavered.

"Don't you ever listen to what they said to you." Jo-anne said quietly with a gentle but fierce quality to her voice. Granger laughed bitterly.

"It's all I could ever get from them. 'Not good enough. Make it better.' 'How did we end up with you as a child?' 'You'll never be good enough.' Those words theme my nightmares." The bitterness and resentment in her voice.

"Don't ever listen to what they had to say!" Johnny growled.

"They were a couple of right arseholes, nothing they say matters anyway." Amos agreed. Granger grimaced.

"But to a fragile heart such as that of a child, it does matter. I was so young and craved their approval. Then one of them got themself murdered and the other killed themself in the gutter. I never got it." She said lowly, her face showing how dejected she felt about it.

"Child, you listen to me. The little girl I first met you as was the perfect daughter any parent could wish for. Your parents had to have been blind not to see it, or something was seriously broken inside their heads. You are a wonderful young girl and they were wrong to treat you as anything less. There is no need to beat yourself up over something people who needed serious mental help." Jo-anne forced Granger to look at her. The sincerity in the woman's eyes was heart melting. It made me feel like a sap.

"Thank you, Anys. It's just hard to shake what they said from mind." Granger said softly, her voice like the duvet on my bed at home; it was soft and warm with just a tad bit of silkiness to it.

"You poor child! You cannot stay here. I forbid it. Lucius, we must have somewhere she can stay!" Mother looked at father anxiously. He thought for a second.

"Well, the old caretaker's cottage can be fixed up. We haven't had a person servant in a few years, so it needs a bit of use. Once done, she can stay there." Father shrugged. Mother beamed at him.

"And of course you _must_ see a Healer. We may be able to do something about those scars." Mother clapped happily as she took Granger's arm in her own.

"Mum, I think you are forcing yourself on her a little bit." I drawled calmly. Mother looked sheepish.

"Sorry, I just don't have any other girls at home and the thought is exciting me." She smiled coyly at me. I rolled my eyes at her in amusement.

"Why do I have a feeling I'm in for it?" Granger groaned, looking at me. I smirked.

"Because you most likely are." I said slowly, seeing the glimmer of dread in her eyes.

I looked at the cottage they had ordered cleaned up for me. Who knew the Malfoys are compassionate people? It was cozy and had a feeling of warmth that just couldn't be explained. Lovely earthy tones and artwork were all around me. The house smelled of lavender and vanilla, two of my favorite scents. Flower boxes on some of the window and a vacant flower beds on the little property let me hope for a little gardening on my part. The house was awash in light and made it feel like the perfect place to be. While simplistic, it held a beauty far greater than splendor can achieve.

"Does young Miss like Mipsy's work?" The little house elf that the Malfoys had assigned me squeaked. I smiled at her.

"Yes, Mipsy. It looks amazing." I said softly. She beamed at me in earnest.

"Young Miss is kind, she is." She squeaked at me. I smiled again at her.

"Thank you Mipsy. My name is actually Hermione, if you wish to use it." I offered. The house elf looked like she was going to cry.

"Missy Hermione deserves this! Missy Hermione is very very kind. Mipsy is lucky house elf to serve Missy Hermione!" She exclaimed, hugging my legs. I felt a small giggle bubble up out of nowhere.

"You're very sweet, Mipsy." I said. She excitedly popped away, most likely to tell the other house elves of me. I grimaced as I felt one of the scars pull on one of my legs.

"I saw that. We are going to Healer Mary _today_." Narcissa Malfoy sniffed in disdain at all the scars still visible on my arms. She didn't like them one bit.

"It will be weird not to have all the scars anymore. Maybe I'll be able to stand looking in a mirror again." I said slowly. She looked at me with sympathy, not pity.

"No one should have to suffer as you have, child. I hope we can right the wrongs done to you in the past." She said quietly. I looked at her.

"I am sure you will, no matter if you think it or not." I said gently. She smiled at me and brought me to the edge of the cottage's property.

"No one can apparate in or out of that cottage. You have to get to the edge of the property to do so. The floo only connects when needed. Otherwise, no one can get in or out without your knowledge. The last person to live here was very thorough and good with their wards." She told me. I nodded. That was reassuring. We apparated to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries as soon as she was finished talking.

"Narcissa, wonderful to see you!" A rotund witch with sandy blonde hair and pale blue eyes hugged the tall, elegant woman beside me. She then spotted me and all of the scars on my arms and gasped.

"Yes, as you can see, I have brought you an extreme case that needs attention as soon as possible." Mrs. Malfoy said primly.

"Oh you poor dear! Come with me, now, and I'll get you all fixed up. Healer Arran, I would like your help!" She gently tugged on my arm and called to a dark haired man who followed immediately. She sat me down on a patient bed and asked me where exactly the scarring was. I blushed and looked down.

"Everywhere." I whispered, ashamed of how I'd never stood up to poor treatment from others. I took it if I had to to save others, no matter how horrible the beatings were. She looked at me in mortification.

"Sweet Merlin! You poor child!" She cried out, pulling me into a tight embrace. I stiffened, not really used to being hugged. She pulled back and I saw the tears and sorrow in her eyes.

"Relax, Mary, we can heal her." The dark haired man she had called with us said softly, gently prying the crying woman from me.

"You're right, it is just hard to know that such a young girl has been through so much. Much more than she should have, and no one put a stop to it." She said sadly. She busied herself making preparations for healing me.

"I will not lie to you, child, this is going to hurt like a sonofagun." The man said cautiously. I looked at him.

"More than knives held by the thugs you see in the slums?" I asked bitterly. He swallowed a bit hard after that bombshell.

"No no, I think you'll be fine actually." He said, his face a bit pale. We were lucky enough Mary didn't hear.

"Well, we are ready, are you dear?" Mary came back, to me with a sweet smile on her face. I nodded and they began to wave their wands in intricate patterns and saying complicated healing spells only the best of Healers can accomplish. It stung slightly, but it was nothing compared to the knives I'd taken before. Like the one I took this morning. I felt a small twinge in my head and immediately knew one of them was doing a mental assessment. What for, I was unsure, but they were nonetheless.

When they finished, they let Mrs. Malfoy in. She looked anxious. When she saw my face and arms scarless, she sighed in relief.

"Mrs. Malfoy, there is something we must notify you of." Said Mary nervously.

"What is it?" She asked worriedly. Mary looked at Arran and he cleared his throat.

"While we did a mind assessment on her, we found some…. _interesting_ results. Apparently, since she has had a lot of mental trauma since four years of age, her mental capacity and magic ability were reduced drastically. With the corrections we've made today, both of those should double to maximum capacity and ability. She is a very powerful young lady, even at such a young and hardly taught age." Arran said primly. Mrs. Malfoy looked at me.

"Well, that'll be very impressive. She's top of her year at Hogwarts already and she is only in her first year." She said. The twinge of pride in her voice made my stomach somersault. I'd never had someone observably proud of me before. It was very satisfying.

"Oh, is she now? Well, with the improvement she'll have experienced, I would not be surprised if she had the top marks Hogwarts has ever seen." Said Mary happily. Mrs. Malfoy smiled at me.

"Thank you both very much. We must be going now. Lucius will be absolutely brimming with pride to hear this." She declared, grabbing my arm and apparating away. At the Manor, we accidentally startled Mr. Malfoy in his study.

"Cissy! You alarmed me. You look excited about something." He sat back in his chair, relaxing his tense stature. She nearly squealed.

"Yes, I am! I found out today that Hermione's mind, while brilliant, was not actually performing at maximum capacity. Also, on a similar note, her magical ability was inhibited as well. That's all fixed now, and apparently her performance will double. She may be the smartest girl Hogwarts has ever seen, from what the Healers say." She was nearly jumping at this point. From the raised eyebrows of her husband, I could tell this was unusual. He then looked at me with a smirk.

"Is what she saying actually true or is she exaggerating? She is prone to doing so." He said with the flash of a teasing smile at his wife.

"She's actually being accurate. That was what the Healers said." I admitted with a shrug. The glimmer of pride I saw in his eyes was enough to make my breath catch for a second. I was easily making others proud here. It made me feel absolutely amazing.

"Are you kidding me?! Now I don't even stand a chance at beating her?!" A voice came from the hall outside the study. I smirked smugly.

"Nope. Not that I'd have ever given you one anyway." I called to Malfoy. He was muttering as he came in. His father chuckled and his mother stifled a laugh at my words. He came up next to me with a glare on his face. He hadn't seen me without the scars marring my appearance or some glamours on. When he saw my face his glare dropped to a blank face. I grinned.

"Yes, she looks marvelous without the scars, doesn't she?" His mother cooed. She was fawning over me an awful lot. This was going to be an interesting experience.  
-

 **Yes, I know, I am not done with A Different Beginning, but the idea for this one pooped into my head after hearing of something in my family history and I thought it screamed Dramione. I'm not sure if I should continue it. Review with your opinions, please.**


	2. Chapter 2

Hi, all! I know it's been a while (like, a year) since I last posted, but I recently found I had continued to work on this story. Taking what I found, I decided to post it. However, I have no idea what is going to go on after this. Please, read and review to let me know what you think! That would be very helpful!

~ XOXOXO Dramionescute

P.S: I don't own anything in the HP universe, no matter how much I wish I could have Draco.

Blinny, Thuna, Hansy, and Longstrode implied. Not timeline or HPCS, HPPA, HPGF, HPOF, HPHBP, or HPDH compliant. I don't own Harry Potter or anything in the HP universe, that belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 2: Her new look

I looked at her unmarred face. It was now full of pretty features she doesn't have at school. I mean, they are okay at school, but I believe she puts herself under glamours. Her doe like golden and amber swirled eyes were fixated on my own stormcloud colored ones. Blossom lips of natural red rested under an elven nose colored the same toffee as her skin tone and pretty near black bangs were framing her face slightly. Her hair was up in what looked to be a bun made out of a braid, which was the only thing she'd worn in her hair since she'd swaggered through the crowd back at the slums this morning. The grin on her face and contemplative look in her eyes made my heart start to accelerate like I'd been for a ride on my broom.

"I am sure she is pleased with her appearance." I said softly, not exactly recognising my voice. She kept her grin.

"Well, I can look in a mirror without feeling sick, that's for sure." She shrugged. My mother pouted.

"She won't take her hair down. It annoys me." She said, sounding like a particularly spoiled five year old.

"Nope. My real hair only comes down for very special occasions. Same with my outfits. I do not wear dresses or anything that reveals anything. However, I may be convinced for extremely special occasions." She said primly. I chuckled a little bit.

"Why does that not surprise me?" I said, amused beyond belief. She shrugged with a sheepish smile.

"Just who I am." She said coyly. My mother huffed and mumbled something about 'Gryffindor stubbornness', to which Granger smiled at her in a way that said 'yup, and proud of it'. My father chuckled at the exchange.

"This is going to be interesting. On one hand, we have a woman who is adored so much she gets everything she wants, and on the other we have a fiery little girl who refuses to bend to another's will. I sense a lot of 'battles of the wills' in the future." He said, his eyes gleaming.

"Yes, but the interesting thing will be who wins more often." I agreed. Both of the females in question sent identically unimpressed glares at each of us.

"Honestly, you're no better than Ronald Weasley." Granger growled at me. I gave her a look of indignation.

"Whoa! I am not going to be compared to that thing! Below the belt curse, Granger!" I said, putting a hand to my chest in mock hurt. She gave me a sinister grin.

"Let's just say I'm good at those." She said, her voice made me think of my own house for the sly, ambitious, and cunning.

"That tone would be enough to make any Slytherin proud." I shuddered. When she grinned like that, it gave me the creeps.

"I was almost a snake. Blood barriers be damned, but the hat brought up that he was worried that someone would murder me in my sleep." She said, giving me a pointed glare. I felt a little ashamed.

"So the lion's pride was the obvious next choice?" Father asked skeptically. She let out a honeyed laugh. It had something venomous hidden underneath.

"Among the ravens, I still would've seemed too smart and an outcast. You should know that ravens are very competitive within their ranks. I'd get awful tired of winning all the time and being resented due to something so trivial compared to what I usually had to do. I would never be able to go to the badger's den. I am far too cruel for that." She explained.

"Gryffindor was your last choice." Mother finished for her. She nodded.

"Yeah, it was actually the house the hat said would challenge me the most." She admitted somewhat smugly.

"But you're the perfect lion!" I protested, not believing my ears. She looked at me.

"Exactly." She said, her eyes sparkling like diamonds under lamplight. They really were beautiful…...Stop! That is going to get unhealthy if you get yourself wrapped up in it.

"You're saying something more in that sentence." Father said automatically. She gave him an approving look.

"I am a perfect lion, you say. I'd have made an even better snake." She said, her eyes still looking like they sparkled with her knowledge and power, telling you she most likely knew and could do something you couldn't.

"Not possible. You've managed to throw everything I ever thought I knew and believed for a tailspin in less than a day." I groaned, running an anxious hand through my platinum hair. She looked at me again.

"Some things in one's beliefs can be completely wrong or biased. It takes someone or something that opposes those things to make one see they are wrong. However, the only way to fix that is if the person coming to the realization is open to change and willing to be flexible with what life throws at them." She said softly. I found myself believing her words, and wanting to change, wanting to find out how much I'd been taught was a bunch of biased nonsense.

"You throw some wise words for a child your age." Mother exclaimed to Granger. She shrugged.

"I was taught most of my life that magic was not real, a fairytale made up for young children. Look where I am now. A Manor hidden by such magic from the outside world. I have learned to change when it is the right thing to do. I used to believe that for people like me, in a situation that was absolutely horrible, that there was no hope for me or them. That no matter what we did, nothing good would ever happen for us. Then I got my letter from Hogwarts. And after that, I was able to make friends. And finally, I was rescued by people who seemed to care whether I lived a good life or not. I have had to change my beliefs a lot in a little less than two years." Said Granger quietly in reply. I was floored by her response. So many questions began to bounce around inside my brain, it was making my head spin. She fixed me with her hypnotic eyes once more.

"I do believe he needs to lie down." She said.

"What?" Mother said blankly, looking at me worriedly. Granger was right, my vision was starting to blur. She moved forward and led me over to a plush chair. I felt my knees buckle and collapsed into it. Father stood up worriedly, his gaze fixed on me.

"Draco, are you alright?" His baritone seemed so far away. I was having a hard time focusing on anything. Granger came to me with a glass of water. She held it to my lips and I drank, trusting her to know what was good for me as she was able to see that I was feeling ill before even I knew it.

"I'm glad you trust me." Her voice was a lot closer now, after she gave me some water. I wanted to drink the entire glass with one large gulp, but she was only letting me have sips. It frustrated me, but I let her administer what she thought would help.

"What is wrong with him?" Mother asked, her distress heard in her voice.

"How much water or liquid has he had today?" She asked my parents. I realised that I'd had next to nothing to drink. She nodded.

"That is your problem, then. He is dehydrated. The information overload has not helped the situation." She said.

"Then why are you only letting him have sips of water?" Mother cried out.

"Too much water at once can send his body into shock and it will take even longer to help him. Sips of water until the blurriness and spinning stop. After that, he must drink fruit juice- such as apple, pumpkin, or even cranberry juice. It will help relieve any other symptoms he may have and rehydrate him. Don't do this to yourself again, alright? You are already nearly killing yourself and I only just got here. I refuse to be the only child here." She explained things to my parents (and me by extension) and she scolded me as well. I have absolutely no plans to let her be the only child here at all. The water was helping me and I had coherent enough to place my shields up again, not sure when they had dropped and hoping beyond hope that nothing embarrassing was hers to hear.

"I think I am good and can drink by myself, thank you." I said politely, taking the glass from her gently. My hands shook and she placed hers over mine to steady them for a second. The warmth from her hands had made me work to keep my breathing even. Once I had finished the glass of water, she looked at me again.

"The little color he had is coming back steadily. What would you prefer; apple, pumpkin, or cranberry juice?" She asked.

"Still managing to place a quip there, even while taking care of me. Pumpkin juice, please." I said with a hint of admiration, hoping that she got it.

"Call it a gift. Mipsy, please get him a glass of pumpkin juice." She said looking behind her and most likely handing the glass off. I had no idea when the little elf had gotten there.

"Yes, Missy Hermione." The elf scurried to do as she was told, not out of fear, but out of eagerness. She seemed to enjoy serving Granger. That was an interesting reaction to someone who'd never met a house elf before now. Merlin, I need to stop thinking about Granger. She looked at me.

"You are a bit of a good occlumens. Your shields are actually semi-effective. That's impressive, especially for our age and the stress you are currently under." Granger commented.

"Semi-effective?" I asked, my voice kind of hoarse.

"Yeah. It hides most things, but some things just leak right through. Don't worry, it's just the best memories from your young childhood, so it's nothing too personal or embarrassing, but you do need to work on your shields because they need to be more effective if you want to use them at all." She said softly.

"Really? So you're saying that your shields are perfect?" I scowled. She fixed me with another unwavering golden stare.

"Not perfect, but effective to a point where most people turn away before they can even hope to find any flaws." She said, the corners of her lips turning up slightly.

"I think I will test that, if I have your permission." Father chuckled. She shrugged and looked him straight in the eyes. He muttered the incantation and it took literally two seconds before he recoiled. She smirked.

"I told you that was how it usually goes." She said smugly.

"Effective. Arbitrary, but effective." Father admitted.

"Not arbitrary to someone who is taking liberties they oughtn't take without my permission." She pointed. He laughed.

"So, how did you get so many pages of random facts like that? Not many people can make shields like that." He asked casually. She shrugged again.

"Photographic memory. How do you think I can quote a textbook without cheating?" She said. We all stared at her.

"I didn't know you could do that!" I exclaimed. She looked at me as she laughed, sounding positively angelic.

"Not that you were paying much attention anyway." Her eyes were alight with mirth. I smiled sheepishly as Mipsy handed me a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Either way, a good thing to have." Mother said, her laughter tinkling like a small bell.

"Indeed. Must help a lot with school work." Father said, throwing me a smug smirk. I scowled and Granger laughed at me.

"Indeed. Think about it, now my mind will be fully functioning and that means no one will have a chance to beat me." She said smugly. I groaned.

"Does that mean you'll be slacking off a little?" I asked hopefully.

"Nope. I'll most likely crack down harder than ever." She grinned. I groaned again.

"Really? Right in front of my parents? Now they know I'll only ever be second." I pouted. She laughed.

"And now you'll actually have to keep it that way, second place." She teased me. I feigned indignation.

"What's with the derogatory nicknames?!? I did nothing to you!" I exclaimed. She gave me an unimpressed look.

"You've done nothing? Merlin, don't tell me you forgot a year of torment." She said, frowning. I hated to see her frown and hated that I admitted it to myself.

"Oh. Yeah, about that…...I'm sorry. I thought that was what was expected of a Malfoy heir." I said sheepishly. She snorted delicately.

"Sure. I am sorry, but could I trouble one of the adults to bring me to the cottage? I am very tired as I have not slept well for a good while." She asked, giving me a healthy dose of well-deserved sarcasm and talking to my parents with perfect manners.

"Of course, dear! Although, I do wish you would stay and join us for dinner." Mother said casually.

"Sorry, I forgot normal people eat more than once a week. I don't eat much - even at Hogwarts. A bad habit from living where I did, unfortunately. I will have to acclimate myself to such luxuries." She added the last sentence as somewhat of an afterthought.

Read: I know it's short, but I'm lacking inspiration, and that makes it hard to write. Having no idea where I was going with this in the first place is no help either. Please RR so I can have a good idea as to what you all think so far!


End file.
